A Philadelphia informal and formal accounting probate dispute lawyer can help you if you have questions about the way in which things were distributed or how a trustee or other fiduciary handled your particular case. A fiduciary is a person who has a legal responsibility to other individuals in order to manage the distribution of the estate or the assets inside a trust.
When this does not happen according to the rules of law or when other people's best interests rather than beneficiaries are put forward, a formal or informal accounting can be requested. An informal or formal accounting dispute lawyer in Philadelphia is the person who can help bring the initial paperwork to request the accounting itself. An informal and formal accounting dispute attorney in Philadelphia is a person who will help you through the duration of your legal case when you have questions about the way in which things were handled. A court can require that a fiduciary give a detailed report about assets managed inside an estate and a justification for any expenses incurred. This is known as an accounting and it can be formal or informal in nature.
A fiduciary can create and put forth an informal accounting to interested parties without any court oversight. An informal accounting's complexity depends on the information requested by the parties involved. Certain times, bank statements will be requested only whereas other beneficiaries might want comprehensive breakdowns and reports. A formal accounting is submitted to the court and to all interested parties. Fiduciaries have to request a formal accounting in very detailed and specific formats and it can take a lot of time to understand and request these formats. To save time, judges want every accounting to come in the same format, which means that a formal accounting requires a court appearance and a filing fee. An interested party does not have to have a specific reason to compel a formal accounting by the fiduciary.
Getting a formal accounting is the right of that interested party. However, formal accountings can be expensive so it should always be carefully considered before they are requested. If an interested party believes that an agent, trustee or executor has misappropriated property, co-mingled assets, abused power or stolen property, a Philadelphia informal and formal accounting dispute lawyer should be retained as soon as possible to protect the rights of the interested party and other interested parties who might have been harmed by inappropriate behavior. If a fiduciary is responsible for rectifying the harm done, a judge will then hold a hearing in which the probate dispute lawyer will present the evidence that has been gathered. If after hearing all of the evidence, the judge determines the fiduciary was wrong, the judge can then order the asset be overturned and surcharge that fiduciary for expenses as well as ordering the fiduciary's removal from the case. In all of these circumstances and situations, it's imperative to have an experienced dispute lawyer at your side to help advise you about what to anticipate and to request the right information in the accounting process.